Disney4me Posted October 9, 2019 Report Share Posted October 9, 2019 Um…in case you haven’t noticed…the Disneyverse is EXPLODING with news right now!!! Spaceship Earth From that unfortunate Skyliner Gondola System incident and the debut of Epcot Forever to the new (and AWESOME!) Epcot Experience and PRICE INCREASES (but also Mega Hotel DISCOUNTS?!), so much has happened since the start of October!! Let’s unpack the latest Disney news bomb together! Disney World Skyliner Breakdown In case you missed it, Disney World’s new Skyliner Gondola System opened to the public on September 29. Unfortunately, an incident occurred a mere six days after the new transportation system opened. Stopped Skyliner Gondolas During the incident on October 5, there was a pile-up of gondolas at the Riviera Resort station, and the entire Epcot to Caribbean Beach line was shut down. Some guests were stuck in the gondolas for upwards of three hours, but they did thankfully have access to water and cooling packs under their seats. Disney World Skyliner Rescue Vehicles Read more about the Skyliner incident here! Since the accident, the Skyliner has temporarily ceased operations. Skyliner Closed Disney has recently released a statement on the incident: “We have a team diligently looking into the cause of the malfunction on the Epcot line of the Disney Skyliner. We have been in contact with the guests, many of whom were on the Skyliner for more than three hours until we were able to restart the system. We express our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and continue to work with each guest individually.” We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about the status of the Skyliner Gondola System! Learn more about Disney’s official statement here! Disney World Price Increases Yet ANOTHER change occurred on October 1, and this one didn’t make us as jazzed as the others. We’re talking about price changes, y’all. We’ve seen price increases on just about everything from Mickey pretzels and popcorn, to root beer floats and so much more. Weirdly, white milk at Fairfax Fare in Hollywood Studios has actually decreased in price, but chocolate milk has increased in price by 40 cents. Why no love for the choc-y milk drinkers?! Fairfax Fare NEW Menu Learn more about the Disney World price increases here! Also, refillable mugs have risen in price from $18.99 to $19.99 for the length of a resort stay. Resort Refillable Mugs Read more about the refillable mug increase here! MEGA Hotel Discounts!! Given all the price increases on food, we’re happy to say there are some new DISCOUNTS for 2020! Disney Resort Hotel Discount PLUS Free Gift Card Offer for January-April 2020 First up, let’s talk about this discount that’s available to EVERYONE. Guests can save up to 25% on their Disney World Resort hotel room most nights from January 1-April 25, 2020. Guests must book by January 1, 2020. Port Orleans Resort — Riverside If guests booking this offer decide to upgrade their room-only reservation to a package including a minimum 6-day theme park ticket for everyone in the room, they will also receive a $30 USD Disney Gift Card per person (ages 3 and up) on the reservation. Note that you MUST upgrade to a room + tickets package to get the gift card. Pop Century Bookings at Disney Deluxe Resorts and Deluxe Villa Resorts save up to 25%. Bookings at Disney’s Moderate Resorts save up to 20%. Bookings at Disney’s Value Resorts save up to 15%. Polynesian Village Resort Lobby Free Dining for Kids Offer for January-March 2020 With this brand new offer, kids ages 3-9 get a FREE DISNEY DINING PLAN with eligible package bookings from January 1-March 7, 2020. We’ve got all the details for this one right here: Disney World Free Dining for Kids in 2020! Note that this offer is only available for Disney’s Value Resort Hotels at this time. Finding Nemo Section at Art of Animation See FULL Disney World Free Dining for Kids in 2020 Details by Clicking HERE Annual Passholder Room Discounts for January – April If you’re a Disney World Annual Passholder, this discount is for you! For most nights from January 1 through April 25, 2020, Annual Passholders can save 25% to 35% at select hotels. Select Deluxe Resorts will offer up to a 35% discount, select Moderate Resorts will offer up to 30% savings, and select Value Resorts will save up to 25%. Select Deluxe Villas reservations can also save 35% with this offer. The BoardWalk More information about this room-only offer can be found here! U.S. Military Resort Discounts Throughout 2020 Active and retired U.S. military personnel are eligible for room-only discounts for dates throughout 2020 as well. This offer can be booked through December 18 and can not be combined with any other offers. The offer (which Disney described as “great rates”) will be valid most nights from January 1 to April 4 and April 19 to December 18, 2020. Banana Cabana at Caribbean Beach Resort There are exclusions for this offer (as with all other offers). For more information, click here. To book using the 2020 military Resort offer, call (407) 939-7825. Disney also recently released information about a military discount for Park tickets, too. Read about the ticket offer here. A huge thanks to Small World Vacations for the information on these new offers! Learn more about ALL these discounts and offers here! Epcot Forever Debuts! On Tuesday, October 1, Epcot’s NEW nighttime spectacular — Epcot Forever — debuted in replacement of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. Before IllumiNations’ permanent replacement, HarmonioUS, arrives in 2020, Epcot Forever serves as the temporary nighttime spectacular! Epcot Forever Epcot Forever revolves around a soundtrack of music that guests have loved at Epcot for years. The musical score, which was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, includes classic Epcot tunes such as “Tomorrow’s Child”, “Listen to the Land”, and “One Little Spark” for all you Figment fans! Epcot Forever In addition to lasers, fireworks, and lighting displays, Epcot Forever also features a kind of kite technology never before seen in Disney World. These special effects bring some really unique artwork to the sky over World Showcase Lagoon. Epcot Forever The show clocks at about 11 minutes but it went by in the blink of an eye! It’s definitely not as grand or dramatic as other Epcot spectaculars have been, but it’s a great stand-in while we wait for the official replacement for IllumiNations. Epcot Forever Read our full review of Epcot Forever here! Epcot Experience Debuts! Also on October 1, the NEW Epcot Experience opened in the Odyssey Events Pavilion. And y’all — it’s AWESOME. Epcot Experience Inside you’ll find never-before-released details about Epcot’s future and where it’s headed after this major transformation through “engaging and interactive exhibits that allow you to step inside the relentless innovation, energy, and excitement.” Epcot Experience In the main display room, you are encircled by a 360 widescreen with a large three-dimensional model of Epcot at its very center. During a 12-minute presentation, the display changes to give a glimpse of Moana’s Journey of Water… Moana Journey of Water Display …the upcoming Mary Poppins attraction… Epcot Experience …the France Pavilion (we are SO ready for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and La Crêperie de Paris to open)… Epcot Experience …and the Play Pavilion! Epcot Experience While the showroom is undoubtedly the main attraction, there were other parts of the exhibit to explore! We saw colorful posters detailing some old Epcot attractions as well as some new ones to come. Epcot Experience There were also four special photo opportunities including this Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind background… Epcot Experience …Mary Poppins–inspired backdrop… Epcot Experience …and this Spaceship Earth background! Epcot Experience Learn more about the Epcot Experience here! NEW Food and Wine Festival Booths! ALSO on October 1, two new Epcot Food and Wine Festival booths opened! You’ll find The Donut Box in Future World over by Test Track at Epcot next to the other new-to-the-festival booth, Cool Wash. The menu is fairly small but includes some unique items like Sweet Corn Fritters. The Donut Box Booth The standout on the menu is the Sweet Corn Fritter, which features Fresno and Red Pepper Jelly for $5.50 or a Disney Dining Plan snack credit. These were fresh, crunchy, and absolutely delicious. The addition of the pepper jelly is wonderful, as well. Don’t miss out on these! Sweet Corn Fritters We also thoroughly enjoyed the Strawberry-dusted Yeast Donut Holes ($4 or a snack credit)… Strawberry-dusted Yeast Donut Holes …and the Black and White Coffee Cocktail ($14)! Black and White Coffee Cocktail Read our full review of The Donut Box here! The offerings at Cool Wash are all Coca-Cola related so if you’re missing your membership to the now-defunct Club Cool, this might just be your new favorite spot! Cool Wash 2019 Cool Wash is home to assorted Coca-Cola slushies ($6, non-alcoholic) which include special mix-ins such as Spice Drops, Candy Pebbles, Boba Pearls, and Pop Rocks! Slush Options You can either choose a suggested combination or create your own concoction! Either way, this is a cute, fun, customizable drink for the kiddos…and for the big kids (like you and me), too. Cool Wash Slush During our first visit to Cool Wash, we also tried the Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla with St. Petersburg Gin ($13.50) which tasted…fine. The super cool glass was worth it for us though! Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla with St. Petersburg Gin …and a combination of Jack Daniels, frozen Coke, and cherry flavoring — which we really enjoyed! Frozen Coke and Cherry Coke with Jack Check out our full review of the Cool Wash booth here! Plant-Based Menus ALL OVER THE PLACE! Plant-based menu items have officially arrived at ALL quick-service and table-service restaurants in Walt Disney World. Disney Plant-Based Cuisine Guide Every table-service restaurant now has a plant-based appetizer, entree, and dessert. And we had the opportunity to try out a few of these new menu items! You can check out our reviews of these items here (spoiler alert: we LOVED the Cauliflower Rice Risotto from The Crystal Palace). Oak Fired Brussel Sprouts and Cauliflower Rice Risotto In order to help guests better navigate all of the new menu items, Disney has also introduced a new one-stop-spot so that guests can see all of Walt Disney World plant-based items Disney has to offer. AND THERE’S A TON! Plant-Based Cuisine Website You can find this master list by going to disneyworld.con/PlantBased. This website organizes all of the plant-based menu items by park, resort, water park, or location. This is a really great resource for those who have a plant-based diet to check out if when trying to figure out where to make a reservation. You can also look for this leaf icon on Disney World menus if you’re looking for plant-based menu items! Plant-Based Logo Learn more about Disney World’s new plant-based menus here! It’s hard to believe all this news came out in the past week, but we all need a big ol’ NAP! As always, stay tuned to Disney Food Blog for the most up-to-date news from the Disney parks and resorts. Are you going to take advantage of Disney World’s 2020 discounts? Let us know in the comments below! Related posts: Here’s the MOST IMPORTANT News Disney Announced This Week! Here It IS!! The ULTIMATE LIST of Upcoming Disney Attractions, Rides, and Restaurants WITH Opening Dates!! Disney News This Week: EVERYTHING NEW at the Disney Parks and Resorts (Including The Skyliner Accident!) View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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